#10, Kumar Rocker, 21, RHP – Vanderbilt

The Amateur draft began Sunday night and, unsurprisingly, Jack Leiter fell off the board before the Mets were close to making their selection. The son of the former Met pitcher, Al Leiter, would have been an amazing storyline but Leiter would be off the board on the second pick in the draft. Perhaps more surprisingly, Leiter’s teammate Kumar Rocker fell to the Mets at the 10th overall pick.

Why is Rocker a surprise pick for the Mets?

Much of the scouting concerning Leiter and Rocker suggested that Rocker had the higher ceiling of the two, boasting the more impressive fastball and better pitcher’s frame. At only 6’0, Leiter is considered small by many standards for starting pitchers and he’s thought of as the prospect with the highest floor of any prospect in this draft class. Given the option between the two pitchers many Met fans would obviously go with the son of a former star player but looking at both pitchers without bias Rocker seems like the better fit.

Rocker is a big guy at 6’5 and he has a thicker build than most of the tall and thin pitchers the Mets have recently drafted. Watching him pitch you can tell that his fastball has life and movement and that his slider is a major weapon. Being a college pitcher the Mets may be looking at a different type of three headed beast in Advanced A next season as their top three pitching prospects could all find their way onto the same rotation. (Matt Allan, J.T. Ginn and Kumar Rocker).

Thanks to Allan and Crow-Armstrong both being injured Rocker slots in as the Mets #4 prospect without having thrown a pitch for the organization.

#46, Calvin Ziegler, 18, RHP – TNXL Academy

In round two the Mets ignore both Bubba Chandler and Matt Mikulski and choose to take a player ranked outside the top 100. The Mets are clearly looking to save some cap room (Mikulski would have been pretty cheap too) with this pick but nothing stands out about him in the positive. He’s only 6’0 and his fastball reaches the mid 90s. The pick is likely to anger some Met fans, particularly if one of the two more obvious choices sign elsewhere and succeed.

Based on the scouting and his pre-draft rankings I have Ziegler slotting in as the Met’s 24th ranked prospect.

#81, Dominic Hamel, 22, RHP – Dallas Baptist

With their third round selection the Mets take an intriguing pitcher who does not match the typical “type” the Mets look for. The Mets have typically sought after fireballing starters like Matt Harvey had been with solid control and decent secondary offerings. Hamel is different in that his success is based upon how much spin he puts on the ball. That being said, his fastball tops out at 96 putting him ahead of Ziegler in terms of his raw stuff. Will Taylor and Gage Jump both stand out as players the Mets passed on for Hamel with the expectation that either might have been too hard to sign with 3rd round bonus money.

Hamel will slot in at the 18th spot in the Met prospect rankings.

#111, J.T. Schwartz, 21, 1B – UCLA

Ranked 34th in the list of Top 50 Met Prospects

#142, Christian Scott, 22, RHP/1B/3B – Florida

Ranked 39th in the list of Top 50 Met Prospects

#172, Carson Seymour, 22, RHP – Kansas State

Not ranked in the Top 50 prospects as of yet

#202, Kevin Kendall, 22, SS – UCLA

Not ranked in the Top 50 prospects as of yet

#232, Mike Vasil, 21, RHP – Virginia

Vasil may not be a lock to sign but the Mets should have saved enough money to make him a legitimate offer. Vasil was once thought of as a first round pitcher but didn’t develop as much as scouts hoped. His velocity averages in the lower 90s and he has some control problems but scouts still see a player who could reach a major league rotation.

Vasil was ranked at 30th in the list of Top 50 Met Prospects

#262, Levi David, 19, RHP – Yukon High School

Ranked 41st in the Top 50 Met Prospects

#292, Keyshawn Askew, 22, RHP – Clemson

Not ranked in the Top 50 prospects as of yet

AAA: Syracuse Mets

The Big Story: Mason Williams

At the age of 29 the prospect status of Mason Williams has probably sailed but the Mets were likely still pretty lucky to have nabbed the once vaunted prospect when their major league squad was so decimated by injury. Williams managed a .212/.297/.333 batting line in the majors and provided good defense while the Mets saw injuries to Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto and Kevin Pillar.

In the minors Williams is hitting extremely well (.860 OPS) and one wonders if there might be a home for Williams elsewhere now that the starting players are returning to the lineup. The destination that might be best for both Williams and the Mets would be across town with the New York Yankees. The Yankees need a center fielder and Williams was once their top outfield prospect. The Yankees aren’t going to pay generously for a player that the Mets have little need for but a second tier prospect to add some depth to the Mets Top 30 might be something they’d consider.

Other News:

• Khalil Lee, CF: There is plenty of good to talk about with Lee, who boasts a .860 OPS in the first half of the season but there are some flaws. He strikes out more than once per game and doesn’t seem to have much success as a base stealer. One of those things need to change before one can buy in on his major league future.
• Patrick Mazeika, C: He isn’t a prospect anymore but that’s never stopped me from highlighting him either. He’s been a top hitter for Syracuse.
• Thomas Szapucki, LHP: The story is roughly the same as it has been. His strikeouts are down (with his velocity) and his walks are up but he’s still managing to put solid minor league outings together.

AA: Binghamton Rumble Ponies

The Big Story: Mark Vientos Breaks Out

The Mets prospect scuffled in May with an OPS of .689 but broke out with a tremendous June 1.182 and continues with a strong start to July. Vientos boasts 14 home runs and 13 doubles in the first half of the season with a slugging percentage of .601 in that span. He has an unseemly 58 strikeouts in 46 games but with power numbers like his the strikeouts are acceptable.

Some interesting splits:

Vientos doesn’t have a favorable split against lefty pitching. This could be caused by him not seeing as much of it or him facing specific prospect pitchers but his strikeout rate is strangely higher.

He has much higher stats with runners in scoring position and with two outs. These are both rare qualities for the Mets who seem to struggle to generate runs in the majors.

Other News:

• Brett Baty, 3B: After shining in a head-to-head comparison with Mauricio and Alvarez, Baty gets a promotion to AA. He will now be splitting time with Vientos… unless another move might send Vientos up to AAA.
• Mark Vientos, 3B: With Baty joining the team one wonder if it will be promotion or a shift in position in Vientos’ future.
• Wagner Lagrange, RF: Consistently proves to be a solid hitter for the Rumble Ponies and should find his way into the Mets plans for their future bench.
• Carlos Cortes, 2B/LF: The month of June was very good to Cortes who managed a .993 OPS over that span. July hasn’t looked quite as good though.
• Jake Mangum, OF: The numbers have not been consistent but he’s off to a strong start in July.
• Hayden Senger, C: He only has 4 games in July but his offense seems to have fallen off a cliff since the month began.
• Tony Dibrell, RHP: Injured since June
• Josh Walker, LHP: With Dibrell hurt, Szapucki headed for the bullpen and Megill in the majors, Walker seems to be the next best starter in the upper minors.

A+: Brooklyn Cyclones

The Big Story: Brett Baty Breaks Ahead

At the beginning of the year most scouts had Alvarez as the number one prospect while some posited that Mauricio might still be in the lead. Brett Baty began the year beneath both of them and likely Crow-Amrstrong and Allan as well. Flash forward to July and Brett Baty deserves to be the #1 prospect in the franchise.

Baty has hit all season and has shown the promised power the Mets had been hoping for. It is not out of the question to think that Baty might see consideration to man 3rd base for the major league club by the end of 2022.

Other News:

• Ronny Mauricio, SS: Mauricio continues to see a downward trend.
• Francisco Alvarez, C: Alvarez’s offense has hit a brick wall and one wonders if the Mets should be concerned.
• Scott Ota, RF: Injured since May
• Adrian Hernandez, OF: Back in the lineup but nothing good to report about that.
• Luke Ritter, 2B: Ritter has enjoyed a very strong July and may be fighting back into some fringe relevance.
• Matt Allan, RHP: Out for Season after Tommy John surgery.
• Jose Butto, RHP: He’s had a solid year but doesn’t seem to have the makeup of a future major league caliber starter.

A: St. Lucie Mets

The Big Story: Ladies and Gentleman… J.T. Ginn

On July 10th Ginn pitched 6.0 innings into the game and showed Met fans a glimpse of the pitcher they hope he will become. During that game he allowed 4 hits, 1 walk and 0 runs while striking out 10. This type of outing does much to assuage some doubts about his power numbers as he creeps closer to a 9.0 K/9 for the year.

Ginn’s progress of being stretched also seems to be making strides as he’s climbed from 3.0 to 6.0 in the course of his first 7 starts.

Other News:

• Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF: Out for remainder of the season with torn labrum.
• Alex Ramirez, OF: Finished June with a .777 OPS but has scuffled a bit in July. He’s so young that there is plenty of time for Ramirez to find his footing.
• Jaylen Palmer, SS/CF/DH: Beginning to show some signs of breaking out with a .964 OPS in the month of July.
• Matt Dyer, C/1B/3B/RF: June was very good to Dyer but he’s come back to earth since then.
• T. Ginn, RHP: Ginn may not ever be the team’s top pitching prospect but he is securing his spot in the Top 10 overall.